22:00 Austin, TX boarding.manages.breezes
Well, lets be frank … after the last couple of days itinerary the run from Abilene to Austin is pretty straightforward …ish.
First thing after refuelling was a visit to T-Mobile on TX-351 and with minimum fuss via the technical skills of Manager Coltan the comms issues were resolved and everything is humming in unison. Fan-bloody-tastic
After a couple of hours rolling through rolling verdant hills of Brownwood where there seem to be lots of ranches and not many cattle, I twigged that I’d left my stash of supplies for the day in the fridge in Abilene. Damm.
So my in-car emergency snack rations are the eclectically chosen Wiley Wallaby Hot Cinnamon Licorice, and Smoky Bacon Pistachios, One failure, one success…
In domestic travelling, my standard travelling beverage is iced coffee. The only option I’ve yet found here is Starbucks and it tastes like condensed milk ie S.W.E.E.T. and ghastly. I stay with water.
Then we come to the town of Early. (pop 2,762), named after the benefactor who donated the land for the school. When the town expands I guess they might set up the Early Early Childhood Education Centre there.
For a quick snack and to wash down the pistachios I dropped into the Aroma of Hope Coffee shop in Goldthwaite. The lady barista and manager there produces the best latte I’ve had on these shores then went back to knitting a beanie of which she makes 1,500 annually for charity including in support of people in Belize.
Fireworks: I’ve never seen so many outlets along the road. Is this a “cottage” small scale industry? I would have thought the nature and regulations would have made it a job for big outfits?
Another constant along the road are billboards for the ambulance chasing lawyers. Is this an indication on how lucrative this business is or just a vanity exercise?
About an hour further on the I-183 and while doing a handy, on the speed limit 75 mph, a white Ford pickup looms large in my mirrors. The prat at the wheel tailgates me for a couple of miles. Couldn’t quite make out whether there were slotted or Phillips head screws holding the numberplate. When we reach the next overtaking bay he roars past me as I was parked. Good riddance. There’s a profanity about American freedom painted on the drop board. Cute. Five minutes later he’s parked on the verge and a black Ford Crown replete with flashing lights is stopped behind him.
With freedom comes responsibility, son.
Negotiating the Austin freeways will probably save me shaving tomorrow. One minute the locals are winding their way through moderate traffic doing 75 like it’s Indianapolis and the next we are in a near crawl for 30 minutes.
Get to my digs and the heat from the bitumen of the carpark is stifling. Apparently the “feels like” temperature has reached 120F. But glory be, while everybody else parks their vehicle near reception in full sun, I find a spot under a tree.
Now as the evening closes in we get an electrical storm with rain which will cool things down nicely for tomorrow’s adventure to Morganza, Il and see how the US Army Engineers Corp keep the Mississippi flowing through New Orleans.
Day00 Sydney sofa.even.notices
Day01 Los Angeles stars.frog.atom
Day02 Boulder City Hoover Dam onion.softened.training
Day03 & Day04 Tusayan Grand Canyon sounding.famously.worm
Day05 Kayenta Monument Valley shapers.northward.abacus
Day 06 Alburquerque via Telluride known.builds.since
Day07 Austin cooks.attend.pounding